Epic Games behind FBI and Army training games

Epic Games has revealed that it is licensing its Unreal Engine 3 to the FBI, the Army, and other government agencies. This is the same engine behind popular massive multiplayer games, such as Gears of War and Mass Effect. It will be put to use for developing training games that involve medical, decision-making, and crime scene simulations.

The Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 was licensed through reseller Virtual Heroes via the Unreal Government Network (UGN) that sponsors gaming projects for government partners. Through UGN, the FBI will use the Unreal Engine to develop multiplayer crime scene simulation games to train agents and recruits.

Virtual Heroes also has a partnership with the IARPA, which would mean more widespread use of the Unreal Engine 3 for intelligence agency training through IARPA's Sirius program. The Sirius program develops "serious games" that train decision-making by intelligence personnel.

The Army has already been using the Unreal Engine 3 for soldier training, but it will soon be using the engine for two medical training simulations. One is a medical education and training program called HumanSim, while the other is for anesthesiology training for Army physicians.